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Maryland Basketball: Three-point shooting was biggest downfall

By Chris Bengel

Mar 16, 2017; Orlando, FL, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) reacts after losing to the Xavier Musketeers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2017; Orlando, FL, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) reacts after losing to the Xavier Musketeers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Maryland basketball will be heading back to College Park without an NCAA Tournament win.

In the Terrapins’ loss to Xavier on Thursday, one of the biggest reasons for the negative result was their lackluster three-point shooting performance.

Maryland connected on just seven of their 27 attempts from beyond the arc, which was good for just a 25.9 percent clip. On the other hand, Xavier shot 39.1 percent from three and made six of their first 10 attempts to begin the second half.

Four different Terps made long-range shots, but only two players hit multiple threes.

Kevin Huerter connected on three of his eight attempts from three and came when Maryland really needed a bucket. Justin Jackson was the most efficient Terp as he made two of his three shots from deep.

Reserve guard Jaylen Brantley also drilled one of his three long-range shots.

The most glaring omission for the Terps was the fact that star guard Melo Trimble only connected on one of his nine three-point shots. Even when his shot wasn’t falling, Trimble still was trigger-happy throughout the game.

From the opening tip, Trimble proved that he wasn’t afraid to shoot. Over the course of his Maryland career, Trimble has been a decent shooter at times, but never a player that should be firing up shots at a high volume.

Trimble hit his second three-point attempt after missing his first shot.

It was the second time this season that the Maryland guard finished shooting just one-for-nine from beyond the arc. That happened in the Terps’ 83-69 loss against Iowa.

Trimble tried to shoot his way out of the funk, but it just never happened.

Over the course of the season, Maryland shot the three at a decent clip (36.1 percent). That was good for seventh in the Big Ten, which isn’t a huge surprise given that Maryland has a solid amount of talented perimeter shooters.

When you miss 20 three-point shots, it’s really hard to see a scenario in which you win a basketball game. As was mentioned above, it didn’t help that Xavier was making their shots from long-range.

When Maryland went cold from the outside this season, that’s when this group struggled. It’s also to be expected with a young team like the Terps had this year.

Next: Lady Terps blow past Bucknell

As Maryland’s talented freshmen get more seasoning, those numbers could definitely increase. Considering what the Terps were expected to be, this was a successful campaign and that’s not something that can be up for debate.